On June 20, 2017 an informative webinar on “Youth in Governmental Programs” was held at 17.00.

The webinar was organized by the Internews Ukraine with the support of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives within the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by East Europe Foundation.

The webinar was hosted by Oleksandr Yarema, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport of Ukraine.

During the webinar, the participants:

• got acquainted with the state youth policy in Ukraine;
• got knowledge about the role of citizens in shaping the state youth policy at the national and regional (local) levels;
• got acquainted with youth programs: Youth Worker Training Program, Ukrainian Youth Covenant-2020, Ukrainian-Polish and Ukrainian-Lithuanian Youth Exchange Programs.

As a result of the webinar, the participants:

• have mastered the techniques of shaping of youth policy at the national and regional levels;
• have gained practical skills for active participation in governmental youth programs on the basis of practical cases: Youth Worker Training Program, Ukrainian Youth Covenant-2020, Ukrainian-Polish and Ukrainian-Lithuanian Youth Exchange Programs.

On 15 May, 2017 the Training “Youth in Governmental Programs” took place.

Development and implementation of informal interactive youth trainings is part of the project implemented by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives under the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation.

During the training, the participants got acquainted with the components of the state and regional youth policy in Ukraine, as well as learned about the possibilities of an organised youth movement to influence the formation of the state youth policy agenda.

Media gallery here.

As every year before, the First Seminar aims at providing deep understanding of European values, historical, social, political and economic processes in Ukraine and in the world as well as becoming a source of inspiration and new opportunities for personal and professional development.

During the opening of the seminar Igor Kogut, Co-Founder and Honorary Director of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, congratulated the participants with the start of the programme suggesting that the School is a real workshop of inspiration for leaders.

Svitlana Matviienko, Chairwoman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, underlined that over 12 years of successful work USPS has become a community of people for whom democracy, rule of law and human rights are not just words but values.

Mårten Ehnberg, Head of Office, Council of Europe in Ukraine, greeted the group and noted that in his 15 years in Ukraine he witnessed a great progress in reforms and, what is more important, a great potential for their future realization.

Moderator Olga Zhmurko, Director of the Roma program initiative, International Renaissance Foundation, and Ella Libanova, PhD, Director of the M.V. Ptukha Institute of Demographics and Social Research of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, discussed transformations in the Ukrainian society in the last 25 years and how to effectively implement demographic policy.

Discussion with the participation of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush- Tsintsadze under moderation of Igor Kogut drew attention to issues of European integration, whether it is a goal or just a path to a better future.

Sevgil Musayeva-Borovik, Chief Editor of “Ukrainska Pravda”, tried to answer this question. She also presented her recent book about Mustafa Dzhemilyev.

“What is the nature of responsible judgements, what philosophical grounds do they have?”, – these questions were answered by  Yevgen Bystrytsky, PhD, Executive Director, International Renaissance Foundation.

Victor Pynzenyk, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine, Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on economic policy, doctor of economics, professor, discussed the role of parliament in public policy making and how to make government’s initiatives more available to the parliament.

“Revolution is not only about turning the country upside down; the real revolutionary effect is related to the inversion of values”, said Artemy Magun, Dean, Department of Political Science and Sociology, Professor of Democratic Theory.

“How to bring up a society that is able to think and create rather than merely consume and use?” – this was the leitmotif of the lecture by Lilia Hrynevych, PhD, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, moderated by Ivanna Kobernyk, Advisor to the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, USPS Alumna.

Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine (2007-2013), PhD, professor, Member of the USPS Supervisory Board, Volodymyr Shapoval talked about constitutional values as well as constitutional guarantees of democracy.

De-communization as a prerequisite for establishing peace in Ukraine was the topic of the discussion with Volodymyr Vyatrovych, Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance who talked about the Institute’s activity and main myths related to de-communization. The discussion was moderated by Andriy Kogut, Head of the Archive of Security Service of Ukraine, who also presented new  opportunities to access the Archive of Security Service.

Moderator Yulia Tyshchenko, Director of Civil Society Programs, Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research, USPS alumna, Refat Chubarov, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine, Head of Crimean-Tatar Mejlis, and Valentyna Samar, Director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism, talked about Crimea’s reintegration strategy, effective communication with the occupied territories, the blockade of Crimea etc.

Yulia Mostova, Chief Editor of the «Dzerkalo Tyzhnia» Newspaper, talked about professionalism trust, comprehensiveness and vision of reforms.

Andriy Kulykov, Head of the Board, “Hromadske Radio”, suggested his own vision of how communication with the occupied territories should be held.

What are value orientations of Ukrainian society in the past and the future? What parallels can we see between our past and our modernity? What lessons can Ukraine draw from its history? These questions were answered by Natalia Yakovenko, PhD, Head of the Department of History, National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”.

“You do not have to be a doctor in order to be healthy. Similarly, in order to consider human rights a value and act accordingly you do not have to be a human rights activist”, said Larysa Denysenko, Human rights activist, lawyer, journalist, writer.

Media gallery here.

On November 16, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives held a Training on Interparty Dialogue Skills for MPs of Ukraine in cooperation with the USAID RADA Program, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, and the OSCE ODIHR in the office of the USAID RADA program.

During the two-hour presentation and interactive discussion on the interparty dialogue, the participants examined the significant differences between the notions of unanimity, compromise and consensus, as well as things that might go wrong in political negotiations in the case of wrong style and goals.

The trainer of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy Jerome Scheltens explained the difference between negotiation, mediation, and dialogue and why the latter can ensure sustainable win-win results.

The MPs bombarded the trainer with pointed questions, and to answer them, Mr. Scheltens had to use the entire arsenal of international experience.

The activity takes place in the framework of the project of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives “Support for Democratic Political Culture in Parliament through Political Dialogue and Ethical Standards” implemented with the support of MATRA Program (Netherlands Embassy) and in partnership with the OSCE ODIHR Project “Strengthening Dialogue Among Civil Society and With Key Government Stakeholders in Ukraine on Human Dimension Issues”, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly.

The project implies creating a dialogue platform for discussion of ethical dilemmas, which will provide for an inclusive process of the elaboration of a Code of Conduct for the Parliament or another mechanism to regulate parliamentary ethics, the approximation to international standards in accordance with the recommendations of the mission of the European Parliament, and the restoration of confidence in the Verkhovna Rada.

On November 15, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives jointly with the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, the OSCE ODIHR, and the USAID RADA Program held a training on interparty dialogue skills for NGOs in PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Velyka Vasylkivska/Baseina str., 1/3-2).

Jerome Scheltens, trainer, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, explained the intricacies of meaning and distinctions between “agreement” and “consensus”:

Uliana Poltavets, Program Director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and coordinator of the project “Support for the Democratic Political Culture in the Verkhovna Rada via Political Dialogue and Ethical Standards”, said the following:

The project implies creating a dialogue platform for discussion of ethical dilemmas, which will provide for an inclusive process of the elaboration of a Code of Conduct for the Parliament or another mechanism to regulate parliamentary ethics, the approximation to international standards in accordance with the recommendations of the mission of the European Parliament, and the restoration of confidence in the Verkhovna Rada.

During the training, Jerome Scheltens expanded on main principles of interparty dialogue, methods of determining positions, interests, needs, and other important issues.

The activity takes place in the framework of the project of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives “Support for Democratic Political Culture in Parliament through Political Dialogue and Ethical Standards” implemented with the support of MATRA Program (Netherlands Embassy) and in partnership with the OSCE ODIHR Project “Strengthening Dialogue Among Civil Society and With Key Government Stakeholders in Ukraine on Human Dimension Issues”, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly.

On November 2-3, the Radisson Blu Hotel in Kyiv hosted a training for representatives of Ukrainian and Georgian political parties, organized by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) in partnership with the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.

The event was aimed at transferring innovative practices for conducting political campaigns using new media and social networks. Representatives of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary parties of the two countries received hands-on experience in applying various tools to create a strategy and a content-calendar of an online campaign.

Levan Tsutskiridze, Executive Director, NIMD regional office in Eastern Europe, draw attention to the excellent opportunities for the networking of Ukrainian and Georgian MPs:

Yurriaan Regouin, Program Manager, NIMD Central Office, emphasized the principles of the Institute, i.e. those of multiparty approach, inclusiveness, diversity, taking into account local context and a long-term strategy

Uliana Poltavets, Program Director of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, Agency for Legislative Initiatives, congratulated the NIMD on the occasion of the office opening in Ukraine.

On July 6 and 7, in Kyiv, the OSCE / ODIHR in partnership with the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, IFES Ukraine, Civil Network OPORA and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy held a workshop for experts on political parties.

The venue of the workshop was, as usual, the NaUKMA Historical and Museum Center.

The first expert discussion panel was devoted to the memory of Professor Yuriy Shveda, a political scientist and recognized expert on political parties. Svitlana Matviienko, Chairwoman of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, announced an essay contest in memory of Professor Shveda, who also was a long-term lecturer at the Ukrainian School of Political Studies (winners of the competition will be honored at the annual “Parliamentary Readings” conference, which will take place in October this year).

At the commemorative panel, MP Serhiy Leshchenko pointed out that

During two days, more than 80 international and Ukrainian experts took part in interactive discussion panels and debated on the following issues:

• party funding and party reporting control;
• election process;
• inclusiveness of parties;
• involvement of young people in political life;
• gender aspects of political parties;
• new political movements and application of modern technologies;
• measurement of the impact of new media on politics;

and a number of other topics and issues.

Dr. Marcin Walecki, Head of the OSCE / ODIHR Democratization Department said,

The workshop ended with a public discussion on “The Future of the Reform of Regulation of the Activities of Political Parties in Ukraine”, involving:

•  Roman Bezsmertnyi, former Deputy Prime Minister,
•  MP Oleh Lavryk,
•  Oleksii Honcharuk, ex-advisor to the Minister of Ecology,
•  Oleksandr Zaslavskyi, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives,
•  Denys Kovryzhenko, Legal Advisor at the IFES Ukraine,

Several Ukrainian TV channels gave live coverage of the discussion.

The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with the partner support of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, Civil Network OPORA, and IFES Ukraine.

Within the framework of the USPS publishing program, presentations of the translation of the book by the Polish scientist Marta Studenna-Skrukva “Ukrainian Donbas. The face of regional identity” took place. The translation was published with the support of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the International Renaissance Foundation.

In the field of scientific interests of the author from Poland are the regional identities of Eastern Europe, in particular the so-called border zone between Ukraine and Russia. The author is also interested in the concept of “Russian culture of Ukraine”.

The author focused on the scientific literature of her subject, extensive sociological material, journalists’ articles of the Ukrainian independence period, published documents, various narrative sources, Internet resources, and unpublished Ukrainian (including Donetsk) researchers.

Marta Studenna-Skrukwa’s book can be considered one of the first pieces of regional identity – the focus of her research is Donbas. The scientist has done a great job analyzing many sources and exploring various aspects of the region’s existence.

“Ukrainian Donbas. The face of regional identity “- an excellent example of multidisciplinary research that combines methods and approaches of different disciplines.

Copies of the book are available at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives Office upon prior request.

Ukraine joined the Council of Europe on 9 November 1995. The ten years that followed have been marked by fruitful cooperation which resulted, among other, in the opening of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies.

It is the thirteenth School of this type established by the CE Directorate General of Political Affairs in the CEE countries. The Ukrainian partner of the project is the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.

This School is an independent non-party project aiming at formation, education and support of the new generation of managers and politicians, NGO leaders and heads of trade unions, journalists and businessmen able to define and implement Ukraine’s European idea.

As one of its priority steps, the School intends to organize a broad campaign for the selection of 35 candidates that will become entitled to participate in three School sessions in Ukraine and one in Strasbourg (France). The eligible candidates will include young people up to 35 years old that have already achieved a visible success in journalism, business, public service, as well as civil, political or trade union activities. Trainers and lecturers of the School will include the leading Ukrainian and foreign public and political figures. The School participants will not only receive knowledge, but they will also be able to develop the skills necessary for a successful political carrier, participation in the decision-making processes and solution of social problems.

The need to establish the School has been spurred by the last November and December events in Ukraine, following which, since February 2005, Ukraine has witnessed a real staff revolution that has become probably one of the most broad-scale replacements of staff at all levels of government after the independence. Observing this process, however, one can hardly fail to notice the substantial deficit of properly qualified leaders able to demonstrate new democratic thinking. This calls forth urgent efforts to be made to train a new young generation of politicians that would introduce modern European standards into the political life of Ukraine.

More information on the School will be disseminated at the presentation to be organized at the beginning of December 2005. It will also be published on the web-site: parlament.org.ua. 

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies is an independent and non-party project of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the Council of Europe (Directorate General of Political Affairs) carried out in partnership with the Institute for Political Education.

The implementation of democratic political and economic reforms in Ukraine, integration of our country into the European society, adaptation of the European standards to the conditions and traditions of the Ukrainian society, establishment of the political rights and liberties, freedom of expression and information, rule of law and protection of human rights – these are the objectives faced by the new generation of politicians, civil servants, businessmen, managers, and journalists.

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies aims to ensure the maximum support to the formation of such new generation of managers and politicians, NGO leaders and heads of trade unions, journalists and businessmen that are able to form and implement Ukraine’s European idea. Today, Ukraine really needs professionals educated on the basis of the European democratic values.

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies sees its objective in the formation and education of new Ukrainian leaders, as well provision of intellectual and information support to the Ukrainian leader network and its value orientation, development of such leaders’ civil self-consciousness and understanding of the functioning mechanisms and principles of the democratic system.

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies intends to organize and conduct seminars, conferences, summer schools, strategic games and training visits for the purpose of civil and political education of the national and regional politicians, civil activists, scholars, civil servants, businessmen and journalists.

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies will involve participants from all regions of Ukraine representing different political views, various nationalities and religious beliefs.

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies will be directed by the Director and managed by the Executive Secretariat. The supervisory and advisory functions will be fulfilled by the Supervisory Board formed of the prominent Ukrainian and foreign civil and public figures and business leaders.

The School was opened on November 09, 2005 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Ukraine’s accession to the Council of Europe. Upon the selection of the School participants, in 2006 three 3-day seminars will be organized in Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions for 35 selected students, as well as one training visit to Strasbourg (France) for them to learn how the European institutions operate.

Short-Term Strategy:

• Creation of the School regional branch in Eastern Ukraine;
• Formation of the School Alumni Association;
• Creation of the network of school information partners; and

Supplement of the curriculum with the additional forms and types of activities (round tables, summer schools, conferences etc).

Long-Term Strategy:

Formation of the School Library and establishment of the Advanced Political Party Courses (for the system-based training of political party staff).